Rapid City, SD Water Use Rules: Leak Reporting Duty (2026)

320(A), the owner of the premises served by a private water or sewer service line is responsible for keeping all private mains, service pipes and appurtenances in good working order and protected from frost, at the owner's own expense, up to the point the line taps the city main. If an owner fails to properly repair a leaky service pipe or appurtenance promptly after the Public Works Director or a designee gives due notice, the city may immediately shut the water off to the premises and keep it off until the repairs are made and any fees owed are paid; the city disclaims liability for damage from the leak itself or from the resulting shutoff.

320(B) backs that duty with a cost-recovery mechanism: if a private main or service line develops a leak and is not fixed within the time the Director sets, the Director may order the repair made anyway and assess the property for the actual cost of the repair plus 10 percent, and if the leak is significant, threatens public health or safety, or needs immediate repair in the city right-of-way, the city can complete the repair right away and bill the owner the same way. Subsection C extends the identical notice, repair-or-city-does-it, and cost-plus-10-percent structure to an inactive private main or service stub serving an undeveloped lot, and lets the Director order abandonment of a line that stays inactive too long, again billed to the property at cost plus 10 percent.